Lost and Found...
9/4/2021
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Deputy of Arts and Culture Hakim Bellamy speak at the debut of the Lost and Found art installation earlier this week.
Lost and Found is a temporary art installation at Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque. The project is inspired by prayer flags, and is dedicated to the stories of the pandemic. The more than 500 black and white paper flags were designed by nine local artists. Community members can share their own stories of what they lost and found during the pandemic, either in person at Civic Plaza with one of the installation attendants (5:30-7:30 pm Sept. 4th, 5th, 11th,and 12th, 2021) or via email to lostandfound@cabq.gov.
The goal is to collect at least 550 stories/photos, as that is the number of days between 3/13/2020 and 9/14/2021.
I was hoping that this would be more of a memorial for all of us to mourn and celebrate, and it is, but it is more of a reminder that we are still in this, but we are supporting each other and trying to create things of importance and peace from the grief and collective loss.
Collectively, we have lost so much over the course of this pandemic: jobs, income, homes. The unthinkable, unbearable loss of millions of lives – family, friends, loved ones. Then there are the more subtle losses. The ones that are hard to define, but we acknowledge there is something missing. My inspiration for my cut paper tribute is my older son, who experienced the loss of spending time with friends, in-person school, and generally most activities beyond the boundaries of our yard. He lost a part of his childhood. He lost some of the magic.
My piece is an interpretation of a photograph that I took of my son early on in the pandemic. He was sitting on the couch in a sunbeam, his hands playing with dust motes in the light. It was all at once sad and endearing, yet hopeful. To me, the image is symbolic of the many lives lost, like stardust – gone but their light not forgotten, and reaching out towards a hopeful future.
The goal is to collect at least 550 stories/photos, as that is the number of days between 3/13/2020 and 9/14/2021.
I was hoping that this would be more of a memorial for all of us to mourn and celebrate, and it is, but it is more of a reminder that we are still in this, but we are supporting each other and trying to create things of importance and peace from the grief and collective loss.
Collectively, we have lost so much over the course of this pandemic: jobs, income, homes. The unthinkable, unbearable loss of millions of lives – family, friends, loved ones. Then there are the more subtle losses. The ones that are hard to define, but we acknowledge there is something missing. My inspiration for my cut paper tribute is my older son, who experienced the loss of spending time with friends, in-person school, and generally most activities beyond the boundaries of our yard. He lost a part of his childhood. He lost some of the magic.
My piece is an interpretation of a photograph that I took of my son early on in the pandemic. He was sitting on the couch in a sunbeam, his hands playing with dust motes in the light. It was all at once sad and endearing, yet hopeful. To me, the image is symbolic of the many lives lost, like stardust – gone but their light not forgotten, and reaching out towards a hopeful future.
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My papel picado design
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The image that inspired the design
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My younger son with Mayor Keller at the opening ceremony
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